The World of Dlo

Communication is vital in any relationship. It plays a vital role in the relationship between you and your physicians. Eighteen years ago, I was informed that I had a brain tumor. From that point on, I learned that I had to take charge of my own health and not be afraid to speak up and ask questions to the team of physicians that I was under the care of. Through the years, of course, the physicians have come and gone, but finally, over the last couple of years, I feel like the current set of physicians that I have is working out for me.

A few months back, I was referred to a Rheumatologist, and I was impressed with how attentive and thorough their office is. He had recently prescribed me a new medication, and I noticed how immediately the side effects began to interfere with my daily tasks and ability to focus. I made the decision to stop taking the medication. Time went by, and I honestly forgot to inform his office until weeks later, when my Neurologist suggested that I try another new medication. So, I informed the Rheumatologist’s office that I was no longer taking the medication that he had originally prescribed, and in addition informed them that the Neurologist had started me on a new medication, and I provided the name and dosage information.

A couple of days went by, and I received a call from the Rheumatologist’s Nurse Practitioner, concerned about the new medication I was taking. She kept stating the name of it, and I was not recognizing it, and I kept telling her that the name she was referring to was not the same as the one on the bottle. Finally, after I again spelled out the medication name on the bottle, she realized that we were not talking about the same medication. It was determined that the individual from their office who took down my initial message had written down the incorrect medication name. The one they wrote was a medication that is stronger and used to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis. The doctor did not understand why my Neurologist would prescribe that for me since I was not diagnosed with that. That raised a red flag for them, so that was the reason for their call to inform me of their concern and that they were going to be contacting the Neurologist for clarification.

At the beginning of the call, I could feel my heart sink because I was being told that I was taking medication that could possibly cause harm to me. I found myself replaying the conversation I had with the Neurologist, trying to figure out if I had missed something during my visit with her. Before the end of the call, the Nurse Practitioner stated, disregard that medication you are taking, it is safe after all. I was left picking myself off the floor, trying to process the conversation we just had.

I will continue to be proactive when it comes to my health and will make sure that, whether I am communicating with the physicians or their office staff, or sending a message through the patient portal, what is relayed is clear and understood by all parties involved.

We all make mistakes, and we are only human.

I am not sure if I ever searched for a new beginning because once I get comfortable, it is hard for me to accept change. I think I was more open to new beginnings when it came to the jobs I have held. My parents instilled in me to not jump from job to job and to learn as much as I could about every aspect of the position I held, as well as the other positions within the company. In this way, the supervisors could see how hard a worker I was, how adaptable, and how valuable an employee I was. As I started early in my work experiences, I tested this, and it worked to my benefit, and I have carried this mindset throughout my life.

I was always in tune when it came to knowing when each job had run its course, and I had learned everything I could, and it was time for a new challenge.  In other aspects of my life, it has not always been so clear for me. There have been many instances where I would go back and forth or procrastinate on decisions that I knew I had to make. There were also times when I was in denial about what I needed to do. Then circumstances would arise that would force me to decide, or in some cases, the decision was made for me. When, honestly, deep down, I already knew the answer but was too stubborn, scared to commit, or I doubted myself.

Recently, I found myself in a position where I decided to resign from my job to pursue another employment opportunity. This other opportunity did not play out as anticipated, and I was faced with the decision to quit the new job after only a week. I was feeling guilty because this decision was going against my own rules when it came to not quitting, and I was also feeling like a failure.

One thing I did know was that going back to my previous job was not an option. I had been delaying that decision, and I knew deep down it was the right thing to do, but now I was left without a job. Allow me to clarify, I was not totally unemployed because thankfully, I have had another side job that is less than part-time hours and working from home, providing some income, just not enough to sustain me. So here is anxiety creeping in, and I’m wondering now what and how I can fix this.

Fast forward to the events that transpired next. I was given a blessing beyond what I could have imagined. As a result, I had a little room to breathe and reset. What happened next was a fulfillment of a dream that I had had over the last couple of years. I would constantly look at the interior walls of my house and wonder what they would look like if they were painted a different color and if the brown paneling that has been up there since I was a child were removed. I could only dream and wonder because it was not an option until now.

I am in the midst of this project, and I have stepped right into a new beginning.

My Wonder Woman. My mom, Gloria. She was a wonder from the beginning, and I was glued to her side so I would not miss a thing. We were always outside, and she would always read to me. We would hang out on the swing. She would sing and talk to our pets and the birds, and I would watch her work in the yard with my dad. That was my world as a child, my happy place.

My mom was a determined, stubborn, strong, skeptical, loyal, loving, creative, crafty, intentional, thoughtful, and strong woman of faith and God. Even when we were apart for those twenty years, we were still together. Her voice and her love flowed through me. Little did she know how connected we really were because we were both going through our own medical challenges at the same time but experiencing them miles and states apart.

God brought me back to care for her and my dad. This journey showed me just how much I learned from watching her while I was growing up, how pivotal it would play in caring for them both, and how pivotal it would be after they passed.

I still hear her voice, and her love still flows through me. She is still my Wonder Woman.

What Now, French Fry?

The Sheriff used to say this to me when I worked at the Sheriff’s Office in Colorado. He would see me and raise his arms up. What Now French Fry or What Now Chola? A funny thing happened recently when I asked myself the same questions. I found myself laughing to myself because I could hear him saying that to me. Why did that memory come to my mind? I’m not sure, but the timing was perfect.

To get to the answer, I must digress and go back a bit to how I ended up here. I’ve been struggling for months now with resigning from my employment of two and a half years. I knew in my heart that it was time to move on, but I was hesitant to make the move. For reasons that were mainly loyalty, the ease of the job, and job security. The reasons for wanting to leave go a bit deeper. I was feeling stagnant, unable to take the position to the next level of growth, and feeling like I was supposed to follow a dream that was not mine. Not to mention the transportation of getting to and from work had been wearing on me for a while, and financially, I just could not justify it anymore.

So fast forward to a month ago, and I found a job posting that seemed to check every mark on my checklist. I came across one of my job alerts on a Saturday morning, and I did not hesitate to submit my application. Within a week, I received a text message from the company representative to set up a video interview. Next thing I know, I have the interview, then two weeks pass, and I receive another message inquiring if I can go into the office for what I thought was a second interview. I went to the office and was informed that I was hired. It was perfect timing because I wanted to finish the month out with my employment, and it was exactly two weeks away. I submitted my two weeks’ notice, and I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

I started the new job, which was less than 3 minutes from my house, so the transportation was basically straight to my destination, not like the previous job, which was always an hour and a half to two hours ride. The position was a part-time office assistant, and with my extensive background as an administrative assistant, I could do this with my eyes closed. I was working three days a week to start, and ultimately would be up to four days as needed. The business is a wholesale supplier of quartz slabs, and it is a fairly new office with an office manager (the person who hired me) and a warehouse manager.

After the second day, it was disclosed to me that in addition to my office duties, I was also to be warehouse support. This was not initially disclosed during the interview, so this was a bit of a surprise to me. I began to realize what the warehouse support all entailed, and I began to have my reservations. It seemed like as the days went on, more details of this warehouse portion were being disclosed, and the more my concerns were raised. After my sixth day of work, I knew I could not continue to physically perform the duties of the warehouse, and in addition to this, the training technique for the office position that was presented was also challenging and not forgiving.

I did the one thing that I had only done once in my life before, and that was quit a job after a short period. The first time it was after a month, but at that one, I gave the employer a heads-up that it was a new industry, and I would at least give it a try. We both went in, knowing where we each stood. In this case, I was literally blindsided by all the extra duties that were not disclosed until after being hired. I still felt at peace with my decision, even though I knew I was technically unemployed. Now we get to the part of the initial question: what now, french fry?

I am not going to go into much detail about what happened next, other than God is the provider of all my needs and has never left me in my time of need, no matter if it is financially, spiritually, mentally, or physically. God’s timing is always perfect, and that is what happened. During this, my side job (which is less than part-time hours for the month), which I primarily work at from home, the owner, whom I have worked for two and a half years, presented me with an opportunity to be involved in another aspect of the job in addition to what I already do. The opportunity could not have come at a better time, so for now, I will continue to be available for any additional personal and professional growth that presents itself.

So the answers to what now french fry keep coming, so I am buckling up and joining the ride to see where it goes.

You Talking to Me?

I tend to write things on random pieces of paper from junk mail, the back of printouts, bills, or envelopes that come in the mail. I have plenty of writing pads and journal books, but no, just give me half of a sheet of paper or whatever is handy. I also will cut out things from magazines that catch my eye, and I will say I am going to put it on a vision board, and end up just filing it away in a folder.

Just now, I walked into my home office, and it felt like I was on a mission, not really knowing what the mission was other than being drawn to an accordion file folder I had sitting on top of my craft desk. I looked inside and pulled out a couple of articles and just a single page with an affirmation and scripture that I had cut out of a magazine. I was reading the titles of each, which are the following:

1. How To Think When-How Your Thoughts Connect To Your Health, Attitude, and Every Single Area Of Your Life.
2. UnClutter Your Life! 8 Practical Tips to Help You Enjoy A More Peaceful, Simple Life.
3. God has BIG things in store for your life! Psalm 65:11 and it has 2025 all along the border of this.

As I read over each of these, I just felt like Hey God, you talking to me? I always joke that for God to get my attention, it would help if it were spelled out to me in a sign with neon lights or if He provided me with a play-by-play manual of what I need to do and how to do it. More times than not, I am talking too much and not being still long enough to listen so I can hear His voice. Many times, I find that He speaks to me through people and random conversations, or when I am reading and studying my Sunday School lessons. It is often the little things that I see and encounter daily.

It is incidents like this that bring me comfort and assurance that, despite all my daily failures, faults, and mistakes, I am not alone. He is telling me yes; I am talking to you. He is saying I love you.

If you are interested in these articles, they are from the July/August/September 2024 edition of Joyce Meyer’s Enjoying Everyday Life magazine. The website is joycemeyer.org.

Am I Talking Loudly?

My dad never used his hearing aids, and my mom only used one of her hearing aids, so I was always having to talk loudly so they could hear me over the TV blaring full blast. After dad passed away, it seemed like mom’s hearing got worse, and I often wonder if her dementia played a role in that. After my mom passed away, I still found myself turning on the TV full blast and utilizing the captions. It was too quiet without them here, so that was my way of coping with them being gone.  I often encountered a few people who would point out that I would be talking loudly in a social setting. I was thrown off by their comments and almost offended because I did not understand what they were talking about and why they felt the need to point this out to me. I thankfully have never had problems with my hearing before, so there has never been a conversation about me needing hearing aids.

Then, after much thought, it dawned on me that the reason why people would hear me talking loudly was because, after almost 6 years of living with mom and dad, that was how I communicated with them. I had to speak loudly to them to hear me. I guess it became almost second nature to me, and I did not realize it until it was pointed out. I then found that I had to constantly explain myself on the subject. It just became increasingly annoying having to address it to those who felt the need to constantly point it out.

I can see how they did not understand. You can lose yourself, and certain actions and behaviors that you become accustomed to doing while caring for others do not faze you. It is not about you anymore or how you look to others because, at the end of the day, none of those things matter.  How quickly people can point out other idiosyncrasies that bother them.

At times, I find myself turning up the TV a bit more (not quite as high as with mom and dad) and utilizing the captions. No, I am not hard of hearing. I just miss mom and dad.